Excavation Of Atari 2600 E.T. Landfill Cleared By New Mexico

One of gaming’s most famous ghost stories may soon have an actual conclusion.

The famed E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial Atari 2600 landfill could be dug up soon, after being stonewalled by the New Mexico government for months due to environmental concerns. But, late yesterday, the New Mexico legislature gave the go ahead to excavate a proposed digging site just outside Alamogordo, New Mexico.

You may have heard of this most recent effort, spearheaded by Lighthouse Interactive and Fuel Industries. Last year, the two companies announced intentions to excavate the Alamogordo landfill, which they believe to hold the famed cache of copies of E.T. , one of the most notoriously awful games ever made and whose existence crashed the video game industry in the early 1980s. Since then, they have been joined in this endeavor by Xbox Entertainment Studios, who have not announced their intentions but I think it is safe to assume some sort of documentary series is in the works. After all, this is pretty much the greatest urban legend in gaming history, one with huge historical significance to the gaming industry. If anything is worth a camera crew, I think this would be it.

No start date was given by the production companies or the New Mexico legislature, but a Microsoft representative said to the Alamogordo News they are “finalizing plans as they speak.” Soon, the truth shall be known. I so, so hope this comes true.